Rights to Prescott's debut novel, We Were Never Here, have sold to Knopf after a furious bidding war. The novel is based on true events surrounding the publication of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago — which had been banned in the Soviet Union — and the role the CIA played in translating the book, smuggling it behind the Iron Curtain, and orchestrating its use as a weapon of propaganda for the West.

Publisher's Weeklysaid that 14 bidders fought for the publishing rights, which sold in what was described as a seven-figure deal.

Lara Prescott

(Knopf)

"I'm humbled and thrilled at the enthusiasm around my novel," Prescott said in a prepared statement. "The incredible story of the writing of Doctor Zhivago and its clandestine distribution — of how governments once believed books could change the world — is one that needs to be told, perhaps now more than ever."